“Memorial and Biographical History of Dallas County,” published:  
Chicago;  The Lewis Publishing Company, 1892.

DR. GUSTAVUS SCHIFF,  one of the most successful practitioners of Dallas county, 
was born in Lippe-Detmold, Germany, August 20, 1833, and is the son of B. and Ethel 
(Berghaus) Schiff, also natives of Germany.  The father was a merchant and lived all his 
life in the “Fatherland.”  He died in 1850, and the mother died eleven years before.  The 
Doctor received an excellent literary and professional education in the famous 
universities of Germany, and in January, 1856, he was graduated with the degree of 
M.D., at the Julio-Maximillian University of Wuerzburg, Bavaria.  He then entered the 
hospitals at Prague, and also studied in the hospitals of Vienna.  Returning to his mother 
country he passed the State examination, but determined to emigrate to America, where 
opportunities were certainly greater than in his own land.  Accordingly he set sail, and 
landed in the city of New York in May, 1857.  He practiced there for a short time, and 
then went to Cook county, Illinois, practicing in and out of Chicago until 1859.  In 
November of that year he went South to Memphis, Tennessee, in search of a milder 
climate.  He soon went to Nashville, Tennessee, and practiced there from December, 
1859, to January, 1878.  During the Civil war he was Assistant Surgeon in the hospitals 
of the United States Army, and did noble service in caring for the sick and wounded.  He 
passed through the cholera epidemics of 1866 and 1873 while in Nashville, where he 
stood heroically at his post, and with unflinching courage did his duty to his suffering 
fellow-men.

Dr. Schiff began his residence in Dallas in 1878, when there were but 10,000 people in 
the place.  He witnessed the growth to the present flattering proportions, and has aided 
very materially in its development.  Under President Arthur he was appointed a member 
of the Board of Pension Examiners, and held the office until he was suspended by 
President Cleveland.  He was re-appointed by President Harrison, and is now Secretary of 
the Board.  Drs. Peters and Mackay are associated with him on the Board.  He is a 
member of the Dallas County Medical Society.

Dr. Schiff was united in marriage, in 1864, to Miss Henrietta Rosenberg, a native of 
Rheda, Westphalia, Germany.  Six children have been born to them:  Emma, died at the 
age of sixteen;  Georgia married B.D. Pike, Esq., and resides in San Francisco, 
California;  Benno L.;  Edwin R.;  Max L.; and Laura, the latter having died in infancy.  
The three sons – Benno, Edwin and Max – also reside in San Francisco, California.  The 
Doctor is an ardent believer in Republican principles, and votes his sentiments.  In his 
professional work he has met with great success.  In the beginning he was well fitted for 
the work by a fine education, and he has never lost the student attitude which is so 
necessary in these days of rapid progress, research and discovery.

Submitted by L.Pingel